Rewriting the Self at Work: A Scoping Review of How Digital and Social Structures Shape Accountants’ Occupational Identity during Digital Transformation

Abstract

Digital transformation, the strategic use of information technology to achieve organizational outcomes, is not only reshaping accountants’ work but also their understanding of their professional roles. As routine tasks become automated and data-driven tools expand, accountants are increasingly expected to take on advisory, analytical, and strategic responsibilities. These shifts can unsettle established professional identities, making it important for organizations to understand and actively support how individuals adapt. This scoping review examines how digital and social structures influence accountants’ occupational identities during such transformations. Drawing on 44 empirical and conceptual studies, it uses an abductive reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns in how accountants respond to changing work environments. Two key insights were developed from this analysis. First, agency that is structurally supported through training, governance, and competency frameworks enables transformative identity work. Second, the iterative mutual reshaping of socio-technical structures and occupational identity enables optimization of organizational identification and outcomes. This study contributes to information systems and identity theories by bridging two interrelated but different disciplines: information systems and identity. Using a socio-technical perspective, it shows how technological features embody affordances and constraints that influence the reshaping of accountants’ occupational identities around emerging roles and value creation. It also contributes to identity work research by advancing a practice-based perspective that emphasizes how technology-enabled work outcomes strengthen occupational legitimacy, organizational identification, and the co-evolution of identity with digital and social structures. This study also contributes to practice by suggesting how organizations can support agentic identity work and create an environment that allows accountants to initiate changes in the system and processes, ultimately leading to optimized outcomes. Moreover, this study guides professional associations and large accounting firms on how they can support the profession in preparing accountants for digital disruptions to their identity.